Apparatus for molding sash-weights



(No Medel.) elsheets-sheet 1'. A. S. HODGBS.

APPARATUS PoR MOLDING sAsH WBIGHTS, en. No. 411,441. Patented Sept. 24,1889.`

(N0 Model.)l 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

i A. s. HODGES. APPARATUS FOR MOLDING SASH WEIGHTS, &o.

Patented Sept. 24, 1889. E54.

WT E255 Y of N. PETERS, Phmu'umagrapnnr. wmbingwn. D.c.

(No Model.) 3 sheensf-shee A. S. HODGES.

APPARATUS FOR MOLDING SASH WBIGHTS, &e. Y

Patented Sept. 24, 1889.

V 'N e/ m ,/w ea "5E" eases m@ wel @f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADDISON S. IIODGES, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR MOLDING SASH-WEIGHTS, SLC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,441, datedSeptember 24, 1889.

Application filed February 19, 1885x Renewed March Z, 1889. Serial No.301,815. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it 11mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON S. HoDeEs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chelsea, in the county of Suitolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMolding Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the same are fullydescribed in the following specification, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in molding apparatus forsash-weights and similar articles, and it is carried out as follows:Patterns shaped similar to the body ot' the weight, but considerablylonger to allow of different lengths of weights being made from the samepatterns, are placed on a moldboard which is grooved, so as to allow thepatterns to rest with one-half above and one-half below the uppersurface of the mold-board. The mold-board is vmade nearly twice thelength of the pattern, (if you wish to cast two rows of Weights in thesame ilask,) so that two patterns may be placed in the same groove withtheir tapering ends abutting against the edge ot' a gate-pattern, placedon the moldboard in suitable guides. The lower half of a two-part flaskis then placed upside down on the mold-board in such a manner that theweight and gate patterns project beyond the side and ends of the llask,the flask being grooved on its edges to allow it lo rest on themold-board. The flask is then rammed up with sand and leveled off. Thebottom board of the flask being placed on top of the flask and the wholeturned right side up,I remove the mold-board, leaving the gate andweight patterns partly embedded in the sand. The upper or remaining halfof the llask is then placed in position'on top of the lower half and asprue and shutting-olf pattern placed ed gewise on the gate-pattern that is embedded in the sand, the sprue-pattern being placed in or nearthe center of the gate-pattern, and the shutting-off pattern beingplaced against the side of the flask where the gate-pattern projectsthrough the flask. A cutting-off pattern is also placed at each end ofthe flask over the weight-patterns at different distances from the endsof the weight-patterns, according to the size of the weights that are tobe cast. Suitable marks are made on the weightpatterns to denote theposition .to place the cutting-off patterns. It` necessary, one or morepieces Inay be placed between the cutting-oit pattern and the end of theflask to fill the space left between the same and to prevent the sandfrom moving the cutting-off pattern when the remaining half of t-heflask is rammed up with sand. After the upper half of the llask has beenfilled with sand and leveled off the top board or boards of the flaskare placed on the flask and the whole clamped together by means ofsuitable clamps or by a weight being placed on top of the top boards.The gate-pattern is now removed by drawing on the end of the same whichprojects through the perforation in the side of the flask and the sprueand shutting-off patterns removed from the top of the flask. The holemade in the sand by the removal of the latter is then partially lilledand rammed with sand, and as the said hole communicates with the outerend of the gate made by the removal of the gate-pattern it will be seenlthat the gate is shut off at this by the sand in said hole, therebypreventing the escape of metal from the mold at this point when themetal is poured into the mold. The hole made by the withdrawal of thesprue-patterns serves as an opening through which the metal is pouredinto the mold, as usual. I now draw the weight-patterns from the sandthrough the perforations in the ends of the flask, and also thecutting-oft' patterns from the top of the flask, leaving an easy accessto the spaces made in the sand by the removal of the weightpatterns forthe placing of the thimbles (more fully described hereinafter) in saidspaces, and also to allow a sufficient amount of sand to be put back ofsaid thimbles after they have been placed in position to prevent themetal from forcing th e thimbles back and from escaping.

The thimble which I place in the space made bythe weight-patterns ismade of' a cylindrical-block of cast-iron, chambered out at one end toreceive and hold .the eye for the weight in such a position that theends of the eye project beyond the end of the thimble into the space inthe sand made by the weightpattern when said thimble is placed inposithroughout their entire length.

tion, so as to allow the metal to surround the ends of the eye and embedthe same in the weight. The chamber in the end of the thimble is filledwith sand and leveled off after the eye has been placed in the chamberand previous to the placing of the thimble in position. This is toprevent the metal from entering said chamber and from spoiling the eyeof the weight. After the weights have been cast and removed from thesand the thimbles drop off from the eye of the weight, and are used forcasting more weights.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents aplan view of the mold-board withthe gate and weight patterns and the lower half of the flask in positionready to be filled with sand. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal sectionof the same on the line A B in Fig. 1, showing the lower half of theflask filled with sand and leveled off. Fig. 3 represents across-section of the same on the line C D in Fig. 1, showing the flaskfilled with sand, leveled off, and having the bottom board of the flaskplaced in position on the flask. Fig. 4 represents a plan view of themold after the lower half of the flask with the gate and weightpatterns, moldboard, sand, and bottom board have been turned right sideup, the mold-board removed, the sprue, shutting-off and cutt-ing-offpatterns, and the upper half of the flask placed in position ready tohave the flask filled with sand. Fig. 5 represents a longitudinalsection of the same on the line E F in Fig. 4, showing the flask filledwith sand and leveled off. Fig. 6 represents a cross-section of the sameon the line G Hin Fig. Ll, also showing the flask filled with sand andleveled off. Fig. 7 represents a plan view of my improved mold ready tocast the weights. Fig. 8 represents a longitudinal section of the sameon the line I J in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 represents a cross-section of the sameon the line K L in Fig. 7. Figs. 10 and 11 represent detail views of thestrap of wrought-iron or steel used in making the eye of the weightbefore and after it has been ben't to the required form. Figs. 12 and 13represent detail views of the thimble for holding the eye of the weightwhile it is in the mold. Figs. 14 and 15 represent detail view of thethimble and the eye ready to be placed in the mold, and Figs. 16 and 17represent detail views of the sash-weight.

Similar letters refer to similar parts wherever they occur on thedifferentparts of the drawings.

In Figs. 16 and 17, a represents a sashweight, the lower end a of whichis made tapering, as shown, to enable the Weights to more readily passeach other while the sashes.-

are being operated, and not to get caught, as is sometimes the case withthe ordinary weights, which are molded in a vertical position,y andtherefore are of the same size The eye of the weight is made from astrap c of wroughtiron or steel, (shown in detail in Figs. 10 and 11,)said strap being provided with aperforation as, through which thesasl1cord passes in hanging the weight, and also with one or morenotches, perforations, or irregularities a4 a4, at or near the ends ofthe strap a, to prevent it from being drawn out of the weight after ithas been bent to the required form and cast in the weight, as shown inFigs. 16 and 17.

I stamp the strap a, from which the eye of the weight is made, with afigure or with letters denoting the size of the weight. This may be donebefore or after the eye has been cast in the weight; but I prefer tostamp said strap before attaching it to the weight.

The molds for casting the weights are made as follows: b represents amold-board having grooves b b', in which are placed the weightpatterns cc c. Said patterns are made longer than the largest weight that is to becast from these patterns, and are placed on the moldboard b in one ortwo rows, according to the size of the flask. The tapering ends c c c ofthe weight-patterns c c c abut against the edges of the gate-pattern d,which is laid on the mold-board between suitable guides dd d d on saidmold-board, which hold it in place. After the gate-pattern d andweightpatterns c c c have been placed in their proper places on themold-boardb the lower half e of a two-part flask is placed upside downon the mold-board and the flask filled and rammed up with sand. Thepatterns c c and d are made long enough to project through grooves onthe edges of the side and ends of the flask e, and to allow them to beeasily grasped by the hand of the molder. The bottom board f of theflask is then placed on top of the lower alf e of the flask and thewhole turned right side up and the mold-board b removed from the top,leaving the weight-patterns c c c and gate-pattern d embedded in thesand. The upper half e of the flask is then put in position on top ofthe lower half e and a sprue-pattern g placed edgewise on thegate-pattern d, in or near the center of the same, also a shutting-offpattern h, placed edgewise on the gate-pattern cl,- against the side ofthe flask e where the gate-pattern `projects through the flask, all asshown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. I then place the cutting-off patterns i t'over the ends of they weight-patterns c c c-one at each end of the flaskein such a position that their inner edges will come on a line with oneofv the several marks c c on the weight-patterns c c, the particularmark being determined by the size of the weight that is to be cast. Ialso fill t-he spaces between the cutting-off patterns i t and the endsof the flask with one or more pieces c" i',

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to prevent the sand from moving the patterns sent suitable clamps, whichclamp the parts Y v e e of the flask, with their top boards 7o 7e andbottom board f, together. I do not wish to confine myself to the use ofthe clamps shown in the drawings, as other and well-known clamps or aweight may be used, if so desired, Without departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

After the fiask has been clamped together, I remove the gate-pattern lby drawing it through the perforation e in the side of the iiask. (Shownin Fig. 9.) I also remove the sprue-pattern g and shutting-off pattern hand throw a little sand in the hole made in the sand by the removal ofthe latter, and as said hole communicates with the outer end of the gatec made in the sand by removing the gate-pattern d, it will be seen thatI shut off the gate d and prevent the metal from escaping from the gateat this point. I proceed by drawing out the weight-patterns c c cthrough ,the perforations e3 c3 in the ends of the flask (shown in Fig.S) and by drawing the cutting-off patterns/L' 'i f rom the top of theflask, the pieces t" t" remaining in the flask, or not, according towhether they are needed to make another mold or not. It will be seen byremoving the cutting-off patterns t' i that a free access is made to theends o f the spaces c3 c:s made in the sand by the weight-patterns c c.This enables the thimbles m m to be inserted in the ends of the spacesc3 c3, and also allows space for sand to be placed back of the thimblesm m, to prevent the metal from forcing the thimbles out and allowing themetal to escape from the ends of the spaces c3 c3.

Before the thimbles mm are put into the spaces c3 c3 one of the bentveyes a a3 a4 is placed in the chamber m in each of the thimbles and thechamber filled with sand, as shown in Fig. l5. The ends of the strap a,which forms the eye of the weight a, projects beyond the end of thethimble m into the space c3, when the thimble is placed in `said space,so as to allow the metal to surround said ends and embed them in thebody of the Weighta. The ends of the strap a are made irregular or withnotches a4 a4, so as to prevent the strap from being drawn out of theweight after it has been cast in it. The sand placed in the chamber fmin the thimble m prevents the metal from entering said chamber and fromspoiling the eye of the weight.

It will be seen that as the tapering ends c c of the weight-patterns ccrest against the edge of the gate-pattern CZ, a passage is made into thespaces c3 c3 from Vthe gate d for the metal poured into the sprue andthrough the gate d, and as such passage is considerably smaller than thediameter of the weight, the metal remaining in the gate after the moldhas been poured and cooled off can easily be separated from the weightsby a light blow without injury to the Weights.

In casting Weights in this my improved mold less skilled molders arerequired, and the weights are cast seamless, as the mold is notdisturbed until the weights are cast and partially cooled off, whereasin the ordinary molds for casting weights a skilled molder is needed, asthe mold has to be lifted apart to remove the patterns, and if the sandis not tempered and rammed up properly the mold will fall apart. It isalso very difficult to replace the upper half of the ask in exactly thesame place on the lower half, and if it is not in the same position theweights are cast with a bad seam and are irregular in form.

In the ordinary ,way of casting Weights separate patterns are requiredfor the diiferent sizes of Weights, whereas by my improved methodonlyone pattern is needed to cast all sizes of Weights that are of thesame diameter, it only being necessary to move the cuttingoff patternnearer to or farther away from the end of the weight-patterns.

If so desired, I may dispense with the euttingoff patterns 'L' i andintroduce the thimbles m m into the spaces c3 c3 through theperforations c3 e3 in t-he ends of the flask, and then ll the spacesbehind them with sand; but I prefer to use the cutting-off patterns, asthey are more handy and the Weights can be made more of a uniform size.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and operation ofmy invention, what I wish to secure by Letters Patent, and claim, ism

l. In a mold for casting sash-weights, the weight-patterns c c c, withthe cutting-off patterns i ft' and thimbles m on', in combination withthe gate-pattern d., with the shutting-off pattern h and spruefpatterng, all arranged as described, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a mold for casting sash-Weights, the weight-patterns c c c, incombination with the cutting-off patterns 1.' t' and thimbles m fm,having chambers m fnt., for holding the eye of the weight while it isbeing cast, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a mold for casting sash-weights, the gate-pattern (l, incombination with the spruen pattern g and shutting-off pattern 7L, asand for the purpose set forth.

4. In a mold for casting sash-weights, gatepattern d, with thesprite-pattern g and shutting-off pattern 7L, in combination with theweight-patterns c c c and thimbles m m, provided with the chambers m m',for the purpose set forth and described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

ADDISON S. HODGES. Witnesses:

ALBAN ANDRN,

HENRY CHADBOURN.

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